


2001

by 27twinsister



Category: Come From Away - Sankoff & Hein, 騎士竜戦隊リュウソウジャー | Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger
Genre: Accents, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Love, English as a second language, Gander (Come From Away), Gen, In another country, Plot convenience, References to Come From Away, Somewhat historically inaccurate for plot convenience, Stuck on a plane, Towa and Bamba don't age normally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-14 14:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20602589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27twinsister/pseuds/27twinsister
Summary: Towa and Bamba have been travelling for a long time. In 2001, they decide to take a special trip to New York, in the United States. They end up in Newfoundland, Canada, and aren't entirely sure why.





	1. On the Plane

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the musical Come From Away, which is based on a true story about how on September 11, 2001, 38 planes were diverted to Newfoundland, Canada. Planes were diverted to many parts of Canada but that’s where a lot (38) went. It involves the characters from Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, mainly Towa and Bamba, who are brothers. Since the Ryusoulgers don't age normally, (they're technically lying on their passports) the 18 years between 2001 and 2019 isn't that long to them.  
After looking it up, it appears most planes originating from Asia got diverted to the west coast of Canada (British Columbia). However, this is fictional anyways and Gander (Newfoundland) is the most well-known due to the musical, so I’m setting it there.  
Come From Away is about 100 minutes long, and 65 or so of those are on the soundtrack, which you can find in a single video [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mdoyKYzkoI) or in a playlist [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V49bo9b9UQE&list=PLhyGNAmDNkQFa83vonw49VagpxMHBz0ps). It is based on real stories but is pretty family-friendly (except a few swears, and subject matter) and entertaining.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towa and Bamba are on a plane going to New York.  
...  
...  
...  
...they are still on the plane  


Towa and Bamba were flying to the United States. This was a very special trip, and the boys knew that. Towa looked through the plane window as their connecting flight took off. Bamba was confident that he knew enough English for them to survive for a week.  
“Look, nii-san!” Towa pointed out the window at the clouds. “We’re higher than the clouds!”  
“Cool,” Bamba commented. His 13-year-old brother was fascinated.  
The flight was going smoothly when they suddenly started descending and there was an announcement. Bamba listened carefully and then translated it for Towa.  
“They’re going to land the plane in Canada. They’re not allowed in the United States right now. I don’t know why. But I’m sure nothing’s wrong,” Bamba lied, sensing that something was going on.  
“Okay,” Towa sighed, tired from the day of travel.  
“You can sleep. I’ll wake you up if something happens,” Bamba decided.  
The plane landed, and nobody was getting up. The flight attendants were telling everyone to stay seated.  
“What’s going on?” Towa asked, still awake.  
“I’ll ask. Ex-cues me,” Bamba got a flight attendant’s attention as they walked by. “When we...get off plane?” Bamba tried speaking English.  
“You can get out of your seats but not off the plane. We don’t know when you’ll be getting off. Would you like something to drink?” They spoke slowly enough for Bamba to understand and gave him a moment to translate it for Towa. Towa decided he wanted some water.  
“Water, please,” Bamba said. The attendant gave him a cup. “Thank you,” Bamba said in English before handing it to Towa.  
“You’re welcome,” the flight attendant said as they moved on to talk to another passenger.  
They waited for a while. Towa got up and took a walk up and down the aisle after a few hours. He didn’t understand what anyone was saying, but everyone was speaking in serious tones.  
“What’s everyone saying?” Towa asked when he got back to his seat.  
“Nothing. Just wondering what’s going on. People are worried that something happened in America. I’m sure it’s fine,” Bamba said, not showing that he was concerned about their trip. Their trip was for a week in New York.  
“Okay. Where are we?”  
“I’m not sure,” Bamba said as the person in the seat on the other side of Bamba started talking to someone on their phone, happy that they got through. “...yeah, I’m fine. I’m in Newfoundland, Canada. We’re still on the plane...”  
“Newfoundland,” Bamba repeated to Towa. “Somewhere called Newfoundland, Canada.”  
“Newfoundland,” Towa repeated. “I’m bored.”  
Many hours later, they were still on the plane, and it was getting dark. There was a sense of worry in the air, and passengers got blankets and pillows.  
“Go to sleep. I’ll stay awake in case something happens,” Bamba told his brother.  
“I’m not tired,” Towa pointed out. The time difference dictated that his body thought it was daytime, and he wasn’t tired, just bored.  
“Just rest your eyes then,” Bamba said, closing Towa’s window shade. Towa closed his eyes.


	2. New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towa doesn't want to go to New York.

When Towa woke up, it was dark out. Bamba explained that it was the next day, and they had been in the plane (including during their flight) for about 28 hours, and Towa spent a few hours of it asleep. Towa whined, realizing how long that was, but was glad to hear they were starting to finally get off the plane. The brothers took their blankets, pillows, and carry-ons. Towa held onto his brother the whole time. Bamba looked like he didn’t get any sleep during the 28 hours, but kept going.  
They went through customs, and were taken to a private room to be asked where their destination was and why they were traveling, which Bamba answered (New York City, for...there’s a word for it...red...recash...recrash...fun.).  
“Does he know any English?” they asked about Towa.  
“No,” Bamba answered. He answered some basic questions about Towa like how old he was (13) and how he and Bamba were related (brothers). Towa glanced at the men, knowing they were talking about him.  
The officers searched Bamba and didn’t find anything, and wanted to pat down Towa. Bamba let them, knowing it would be easier if they just cooperated.  
“Stand like this and stay still,” he demonstrated. Towa copied his brother and winced at the touch, but nothing was found. They were allowed to leave.  
“Come on,” Bamba and Towa followed instructions and went out to a school bus. It was getting late, and they were some of the last people on the bus.  
“Where are we going?” Towa asked.  
“I’m not sure. Relax,” Bamba started to answer as another passenger interrupted.  
“Why aren’t you speaking English to your son?” The passenger was a loud man, and Bamba paused his conversation with Towa.  
“He my brother. No English...speak Japanese. Please leave me and him alone.” Bamba had been awake for over an entire day and didn’t want to be harassed on a bus in a foreign country. He glared at the man hard enough and didn’t get a reply.  
“Just stay with me,” he turned back to Towa and resumed speaking in Japanese.  
“What did he say?” Towa asked quietly, scared that it was something bad.  
“Don’t worry about it. Everything is fine,” Bamba lied.  
“Will we still be able to go to New York?”  
“I don’t know,” Bamba avoided the question.  
They got to a building and were shown around nicely. They were then allowed to go watch TV, where the news was on, “so you can see what happened for yourselves.”  
The boys went to watch the news.  
Towa didn’t really know what was going on, but he knew something was wrong. He watched the TV and Bamba refused to translate what was being said, so the teen just watched and listened to pick out words.  
World Trade Center...plane...bomb...New York...  
“New York?” Towa repeated. He looked at Bamba. “That’s New York?”  
“Uh,” Bamba hesitated. “That is in New York,” he admitted.  
“We’re going to New York, right?” Towa remembered.  
“We’re supposed to.”  
Towa stared at the disaster shown on TV for a moment.  
“I wanna go home!” He cried.  
“Shh, come on,” Bamba lead Towa outside to a spot where there were less people since he was attracting a lot of attention. “We’re not going to America. Okay? We’ll tell the airport to put us on a plane to Tokyo when they’re able to.”  
“Uh,” Towa struggled to think. “I don’t,” he started. “Uh, um, I’m scared.”  
“I’ll protect you,” Bamba replied, holding his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the word Bamba was trying to say, "red, recash, recrash...fun" was 'recreational purposes' as in, travelling for entertainment or enjoyment.


	3. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towa and Bamba have some food and actually get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to my attempt at writing Beulah's accent. I did my best.

Someone approached, the same person who had shown them around the building. She had some sandwiches and bottled water.  
“Sorry for interruptin’,” she had an accent that Bamba struggled to understand since she was talking quickly. “But I’was thinkin’ you were hungry. It’s ‘bout suppertime in Japan r’now.” She handed them the food. Bamba carefully took a bite, and decided it was safe.  
“Thank you,” he told the lady after having a bite. Towa started eating his too.  
“Y’welcome. M’name’s Beulah. If y’need anything just ask.”  
“Thank you,” Towa said quietly in English after eating some of his sandwich and deciding it was good.  
“Y’welcome!” Beulah repeated.  
“When can we go back to Japan?” Towa asked Bamba.  
“I don’t know. I’ll ask,” Bamba turned to Beulah. “When...plane go...” Bamba paused to wake himself up. “...back...”  
“We don’t know when the planes’ll be flyin’ again. I’ll let ya know.”  
“She doesn’t know either,” Bamba translated.  
“Oh.”  
“Y’look tired. Y’need’a go someplace to sleep?”  
“...slower?” Bamba requested, having no idea what she said.  
“D’ya need’a go sleep somewhere? My house is free,” Beulah spoke a bit slower.  
“Oh,” Bamba realized that she was inviting them to her house. “Do you want to go to her house?” He asked Towa.  
“Hmm...I guess,” Towa decided. If Bamba trusted her, he would go.  
“Yes,” Bamba told Beulah.  
“Great! I’ll show ya. C’mon.”  
Bamba and Towa went to Beulah’s house, where she said they could stay. “No need t’lock the door,” she mentioned. “I’ll be goin’ around helpin’ people. Y’can do what y’want.”  
“Thank you,” Bamba told her again. Once Beulah left, Bamba sighed. “I’m going to get some rest. Wake me up if you need anything,” he told Towa, sleeping on the couch.  
“Okay.”  
Towa sat around, bored. After Bamba fell asleep, Towa turned on the TV, muted it, and watched the news.  
That quickly became a bad idea, and Towa saw footage of people who were hurt or scared, and even though he couldn’t hear them, the visuals told him everything he needed to know.  
Towa stared until Beulah came back.  
“Jus’ checkin’ in,” she laughed. Towa didn’t understand what was funny. Bamba was asleep. Towa looked at the news again, but before he could watch the TV or say anything, he ran to another room down the hall.  
“What’s wrong?” Beulah asked. Towa sat on her bed and started crying.  
“I’m scared,” Towa admitted in Japanese. He curled into a ball on the bed.  
“S’okay. You’re safe here. Safe,” Beulah repeated in a gentle voice.  
“Say-fuh?” Towa tried to repeat her.  
“Safe.”  
“Say-fuh...thank you,” Towa said all the English he knew.  
“Y’welcome.” Beulah left him alone and went back to helping the community.  
Towa fell asleep on top of the covers.  
When Bamba woke up, he wasn’t sure where he was, and he didn’t see Towa. He rushed around the premises and found Towa asleep on top of a bed’s covers. Bamba softened and moved his brother under the covers without waking him. Part of Towa still seemed to be conscious, because when Bamba kissed Towa on the forehead to silently tell him goodnight and started to leave, Towa grabbed his hand. Bamba stayed there until Towa’s grip loosened, and Towa was truly asleep.


	4. Flights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towa and Bamba head home immediately

When Towa woke up again, it was evening. His body wasn’t adjusting well to the time change. He got up and found Bamba watching TV. “What day is it?”  
“September 13. It’s the evening.”  
“...” Towa tried to pick up more words from the news but didn’t get a chance to as Bamba turned it off.  
“Hey!”  
“Don’t watch all that. Let’s go outside and get fresh air.”  
“...okay.”  
Towa and Bamba went outside, got some food (sandwiches and fruit), and looked at the scenery. Towa tried to forget the images he had seen on TV of New York and replace it with Newfoundland instead.  
The rest of their trip was uneventful. No good news came until Bamba finally found out on September 14th that planes were beginning to prepare for takeoff. Towa was happy to learn the news but was scared to go to New York.  
“I don’t wanna go there,” he cried. “I wanna go home.” Bamba held him as Towa was embarrassed, clearly making a scene at the shelter they were staying at (they decided to go there after they had got some rest at Beulah’s house). Bamba helped him walk outside and sat him down.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“I don’t wanna go to New York. It’s scary.”  
“Look,” Bamba pulled out their plane tickets and passports. “These are our plane tickets. It has where we’re going and we can’t change that. But,” he pulled out the return flight tickets. ”These say when we’re supposed to leave New York to go home. I’ll do my best to get these changed as soon as I can. I promise.”  
The tickets had 09/18/2001 written on the date portion.  
“Can we just go home?” Towa asked.  
“Look Towa, I don’t want to go to New York either, but this is the easiest way.”  
Towa cried.  
On September 16, 2001, in the morning, Bamba and Towa got up, got onto a plane, and went to New York.  
Before they could do that, they had to go through airport security, get on the right plane, and get into the air.  
When they were heading to the plane, Towa started remembering what he had seen on the news the whole time. The situation didn’t seem to be getting better from what he could comprehend. He stopped.  
“C’mon,” Bamba stayed with him. A security guard asked why he stopped, and Bamba and asked what was wrong.  
“I’m scared. Is...is the plane gonna explode?” Towa was staring at the ground.  
“No,” Bamba replied gently.  
“Are we gonna have to stay on the plane for 28 hours?”  
“No, buddy. We’re safe now.”  
“Keep moving,” the security guards told them. Towa let out a cry at the guard’s tone of voice.  
“Come on. Let’s go now,” Bamba said.  
“My legs won’t move.”  
“I’ll carry you.”  
Bamba carried Towa onto the plane, but Towa managed to walk to his seat. Bamba got into his seat and helped Towa put on his seatbelt. Towa’s window was still closed.  
The flight crew proceeded normally, and Towa held Bamba’s hand for support. The plane started ascending, and Towa started kicking and screaming and trying to get out of his seat, but Bamba held Towa’s hands gently so he couldn’t hit anything and stayed calm as the passenger in front of Towa started complaining that a ‘retarded kid’ was sitting behind him.  
After throwing up in a puke bag, Towa was fine (but embarrassed) and only got upset again when they were descending. Bamba made sure the window was closed so Towa wouldn’t see anything. They stayed on the plane for longer than everyone else, as Towa didn’t want to get off the plane.  
“I’m scared.”  
“I’m scared too. You can close your eyes, okay? I’ll stay with you the whole time. I promise,” Bamba said gently.  
Towa got up with his eyes closed. Bamba lead him out, and started leading Towa through the area, not describing anything.  
“We’re in the airport now. Open your eyes,” Bamba said. Towa decided that the surroundings sounded like a busy airport, and not a building that just got destroyed, so he listened and opened his eyes, relieved to actually be in the airport.  
“Now we’re going to wait for our things and see if we can get a flight home soon,” Bamba explained. He brought Towa to the baggage carousel, where they got their luggage after not seeing it for a week.  
“This is ours. Come on.” Bamba went to change their flight.  
“Can we...leave...go Tokyo...before this day?” Bamba pointed at the time and date on their tickets. The person tried looking up flights to Tokyo and said the first one would be the next day, and they could sleep at the airport if they needed.  
“Thank you,” Bamba said.  
“Towa. We’re going to stay at the airport. Tomorrow morning, we are going to leave,” he informed his brother.  
“Okay.”  
The boys received new tickets for their new flight, with Bamba keeping the old ones. On their new flight, Towa got on calmly, with the understanding that they were going home.  
They finally got home and hurried through security and everything to get to the forest. They were happy to be home.


	5. Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in present-day, an epilogue of sorts. Dates are formatted MM/DD/YYYY.

Towa and Bamba didn’t go on any travelling after that, they couldn’t afford to. The thought didn’t even cross their mind until they met the other Ryusoulgers and Ui. “Would you want to go on a vacation to America?” Ui asked the group. “I’ve always wanted to go to New York-“  
“No,” Towa had a flashback. For him, the events were closer to two years ago instead of the two decades that it was for Ui.  
“Okay. Are you okay?” Ui asked as Towa looked at the ground and tried not to cry.  
“No,” Bamba helped Towa sit down. “I...”  
“In 2001, we had a bad experience trying to travel to the United States,” Bamba said, covering his brother’s ears. “That’s not a long time ago for us, and Towa has some bad memories from it.”  
“Oh,” Ui said softly, sorry for bringing it up.  
“I’ve never been on a plane. Was it fun?” Koh asked innocently.  
“No,” Towa answered, not elaborating.  
“Why?” Koh frowned.  
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Towa decided, putting his hands into fists.  
“Okay. Sorry,” the others apologized.  
Soon after, Towa and Bamba went home. Bamba looked through the tickets and passports from 2001, kept in a clear plastic bag.  
“What’s that?” Towa asked.  
“This is your passport,” Bamba opened it to show the picture. “And this is mine. These are the plane tickets to New York.” Towa looked at the plane tickets with the date of 9/11/2001. “This was our original return flight, September 18th,” he showed Towa the unused tickets (9/18/2001). “And these are our tickets from when we left on the 16th.”  
9/16/2001.  
“Why did you keep them?” Towa asked.  
“I didn’t have a reason to get rid of them. Do you want to talk about what you remember?”  
“...I remember we stayed at a house. Who was that...?”  
“Her name was Beulah. She had an accent. She was very nice. Staying with her was really the only way I got any sleep since I didn’t have to watch out for other people.”  
“I remember that. I remember watching the news. It was scary. I remember saying thank you,” Towa said in English. “I remember getting on the plane,” Towa started suddenly crying. “It was scary I thought something was gonna happen-“  
“Shh,” Bamba hugged his brother. “I’m here.”  
“Whatif something bad happened on the way home?”  
“Shh. It’s okay. Nothing bad happened. It’s not worth thinking about all this time later.”  
“But-“  
“It’s okay. You are safe. I love you.”  
“I love you too.”  
A memory was vague in Towa’s mind since he tried to block out his memories from that week, but he remembered someone teaching him the word...  
“Say-fuh,” Towa repeated.  
“Hm?” Bamba asked.  
“Say-fuh. Safe,” Towa said the word in English, followed by Japanese.  
Bamba smiled.


End file.
